Rose Petals
by Designated Crowd Ninja
Summary: Doctor Who/Merlin crossover. Don't ask me how it works, it just does. Rated T for the moment, may change.
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own Merlin**

* * *

**Chapter 1 - Lavender of the Maythen Kindred  
**

Gwen listened to the rain starting to sheet heavily against the windows and it was only evening, didn't look like she'd be able to get home tonight. She sighed and sat on the edge of her mistresses bed, brushing a few strands of long black hair from Morgana's face, unintentionally waking her up.

"Gwen?" she muttered "I had a wonderful dream Gwen, about a woman, a beautiful woman, she wore a green dress, with long brunette curls hanging down her back she had blue eyes and everything was going to be okay Gwen."

"I'm sure it was..." soothed Gwen, stroking Morgana's hair wishing there was something she could do to lessen the pain of her mistresses illness, not even Gaius could find a cure. "Just try to get some rest"

*

The sound of thunder echoed through Camelot accompanied by flashes of lightening. Dark clouds blocked out the light of even the full moon, heavy rain falling mercilessly, cutting like blades of ice against anyone who dared enter it. Water ran through the streets like raging rivers. However the night guards of the gates of Camelot stood strong against the Storm, their cold soaked tunics keeping them alert and awake. As a dark, cloaked figure paced their way towards them, leading a surprisingly calm horse (considering the storm) by the reigns, they readied themselves, turning the tips of their spears toward the cloaked figure.

As it they neared them they noticed that it was a girl, with long dark curls and blue eyes. Her green cloak soaked through and her hood barely shielding her from the rain. She spoke.

*

Uther was none too pleased to be woken in the middle of the night. Especially for something a small as a traveler bearing 'urgent news' as they so claimed. He reluctantly dragged himself from his bed and made his way down to the main hall.

The young girl stood before him. She wasn't quite nobility, yet not an average villager like you'd expect from the outer regions. Definitely dignified and well educated, yet he still couldn't quite think what family she could be from.

"Sire, my name is Lavender of the Maythen kindred, I come from the hidden Isles hearing the grave news of the Lady Morgana's illness." she introduced, with complete confidence

"How does his concern you?" he asked, wondering why he recognized the name 'Maythen Kindred'

"The my people are widely known for our medical secrets, I make no promises but I think I may be able to conduct a cure." she explained

"Not possible, even our court physician was unable to cure her." said Uther,

Gaius stepped through the doors, right on cue "You're right Sire _I_ was unable to find a cure, however the Maythen Kindred are truly exceptional physicians and this girl may be able to cure Lady Morgana."

"Well Gaius, if you trust her..."

"I do sire,"

"I guess she should be given a chance, you will be shown to my ward's chambers immediately."

*

Gwen was woken by a knock at the door, she'd fallen asleep on the floor with her head resting on Morgana's bed. She rubbed the fatigue from her eyes and got up to answer the door.

"Yes?" she asked on opening the door, it was Gaius, stood behind him was a young woman, identical to the one Morgana had described from her dream "A cure?" Gwen said before thinking

"Possibly, how did you know?" he asked curiously

"Um..." she had to think fast "Good guess?"

"Oh..." he looked thoughtful for a moment then stepped aside, letting the young woman behind him enter. Gwen wanted to stop her, but something stopped her. As the woman moved across the room, with an air of grace she'd only ever seen Morgana achieve, to Morgana's bedside, Gaius explained about the woman's claim of a cure.

"Hmm..." the woman was kneeling by Morgana, elbows resting on the bed, fingers pressed against her lips in thought " Could be ... maybe not ... no definitely ... probably not ... well .... no... hmm ..." she muttered to herself, before hastily taking off the leather bag she'd been carrying and unpacking it onto the floor, taking out all sorts of herbs, some Gaius recognized some he didn't then a pestle and mortar. Gwen had a sneeking suspicion there was allot more in the bag, but the woman spoke her. "Hi, Lavender" she introduced with a smile "What was your name?"

"Um, Gwen."

"Hi Gwen, would you mind getting me some water? Please?" she asked

Gwen nodded and went to fetch some water. She instantly liked this girl, not ordering her round, like the other nobility that had come to Camelot.

It didn't take long for Lavender to finish mixing the cure, infact in half the time that Gaius would of taken. Once administered to Morgana she was looking better within the hour.

*

"I don't know how to thank you." said Uther, Morgana back at his side, Arthur on the other

"No thanks are needed sire, I was merely doing what I was raised to do, cure the sick regardless of gender or ancestry... well ... as long as they don't study magic that is." she added, mainly talking to herself

"You must be rewarded though" argued Morgana "You saved my life."

"No, I couldn't." Lavender refused, looking slightly repulsed at the idea of a reward "I have to return home soon anyway, my father is expecting me back in four days."

Arthur stepped in "From what I heard the Hidden Isles are three days journey from here and very dangerous, am I right?" Lavender shrugged, Arthur turned to his father "Sire, my I suggest that a two man guard is organized for Miss Lavender's journey home?"

Uther looked at his son, slightly surprised "That's a very good idea Arthur. I shall not see such a beautiful young woman take a dangerous un-guarded, and I won't hear of excuses," he added before she could interrupt "as soon as you are ready to leave there shall be two men ready and waiting to accompany you on your journey home."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 - Torchwood on board the TARDIS**

"Cardiff?" asked Donna, the Doctor nodded "Cardiff?!" she exclaimed

"Calm down!"said the Doctor, fussing over the control panel "We're only gonna be here for an hour or two."

"Why's that then?"

"Cardiff was built on a rift in time and space, it's always bleeding energy, so I just throw open the engines and the TARDIS absorbs all that energy. A sort of pitt stop" he explained "And it's two thousand and... ten... I think so we might as well pay a visit to an old friend of mine while we're here."

***

Gwen's eye's flickered over to the CCTV for a moment, then she did a double take. Hardly believing her eyes. "Jack!" she called "It's that blue box!"

She'd barely finished the word box before Jack was pulling on his Great coat and almost running to the door. Glancing to each other first, Gwen and Ianto were quick to follow. Having to run to catch up with him.

***

The Doctor hadn't even locked the TARDIS door when he spotted Jack running up to him.

"Doctor!" he called

"Jack" he greeted when the slightly breathless man reached him "You've met Donna?"

"No, but Hel-lo there." he said, winking at her

"Oh stop it..." sighed the Doctor exasperatedly

"What?" asked Jack defensively, now realising his team mates running up behind him "Ah! Gwen, Ianto, this is the Doctor and his companion Donna...?"

"Noble." said Donna, smiling "Donna Noble."

The Doctor was about to say something but the TARIDS's engines started to whirr, with an unfamiliar whining sound echoing beneath it. "That's not supposed to happen..." he muttered, wondering back into the TARDIS, followed by Donna and Jack.

Gwen and Ianto stared in shock. How could all three of them fit into such a small box? They looked at each other in confusion, before peeking round the door into the great interior that was the TARDIS control room.

"Oh my God!" exclaimed Gwen stepping inside, followed by an equally awestruck Ianto, who just about managed a 'Wow'.

"It's bigger on the inside!"

"Yeah..." said the Doctor, twitching controls, trying to pinpoint the problem and knowing that that was the first thing one of them was going to stay as soon as they stepped inside

"You get used to it..." said Donna, leaning against the rails, watching Jack and the Doctor race round the central column

Suddenly they were jolted violently as the TARDIS's engine began whirring and straining as it ricocheted through the vortex, tossing them from side to side like rag dolls. As it suddenly jolted to a halt all of them where thrown to the floor. The Doctor was first to recover, he jumped up and flicked another switch "ah..." he said, scanning his eye's across the screen.

Jack pushed himself off the floor then checked Gwen and Ianto were okay. Donna however went straight up to the Doctor "Is that a good 'ah' or a bad one?" she asked

He sucked his teeth "That really depends on _how _you look at it..."

She raised her eyebrows

"We _might _be in the middle ages."

"_Might _be?" questioned Donna "What do you mean _might _be?"

"Well... I'm not sure... It appears medieval on the scan, but we're way too far back in time for that to be right"

"There's only one way to find out..." suggested Jack, glancing at the door

"It could be dangerous" the Doctor warned, staring Jack in the eye. Simultaneously they both beamed "Lets go" he said

As they all neared the door the Doctor suddenly swung round, looking at Gwen and Donna "You can't go out there dressed like that"

"Why not?" asked Gwen, looking down at her leather jacket and skinny jeans

"Medieval times" said Ianto like it was obvious "You'd start a riot"

Gwen and Donna looked at each other "What then?" asked Donna

Doctor gave them the directions to the 'wardrobe' where they should look under 'medieval' and should find something suitable.

***

Half an hour later Gwen and Donna were finally ready. Gwen was wearing a red and white dress with criss-crossed string at the front and long floaty sleeves. Donna wore something similar but all purple.

"Wadda you think?" asked Donna, posing

"Fabulous! Can we go now?" asked the Doctor, eager to have a look around.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 - Green  
**

Lavender fastened the straps on her saddle, double checking that they wouldn't come undone as soon as she sat on it. The saddle bags were full of various remedies and herbs, with a few extra things. Her sword was attached to the saddle instead of her waist, whereas her bow and arrows were inside a quiver strapped to her back. There had been a nagging feeling at the back of her mind all night, something she failed to notice or do before she left home that seemed to only worry her now.

After finding out that her guard was prince Arthur and his manservant Merlin, she'd been quite shocked, she'd been expecting to men in armour, just average guards, not a prince. They hadn't even set off yet and she could tell she wasn't going to enjoy this journey.

Her horse buried its nose in her hair, nuzzling her neck. "You feel it too huh?" she said to the horse in a soft voice "Not normal is it?... then again... could of just left a herb out on the desk... that's probably it" she muttered to herself. As clever as she seemed, she was incredibly forgetful. Dismissing it, she stood on a box, placed her hands on her horses back and lifted herself up to sit in sidesaddle position.

Annoyed that some was treated in such a way, Lavender watched Arthur stand on Merlin's back to mount his own horse. When Arthur had mounted his horse he turned and smiled at her, she frowned and looked in the opposite direction. It took Merlin three attempts to mount his horse.

***

They had been traveling for three and a half days now and Lavender had barely spoken or slept, the nagging feeling in the back of her head getting worse as she got closer to home. Not that she'd told Merlin or Arthur this.

Merlin looked from Lavender, who was riding a few meters ahead of them, to Arthur, who was next to him.

"Remind me why I'm here." he said to Arthur

Arthur didn't seem to hear him "She's beautiful isn't she" it wasn't a question

Merlin was completely thrown off "Um... well... I suppose so..."

"A beautiful, cleaver, woman of nobility, a suitable wife for a future King, don't you think so Merlin?"

Merlin was shocked "Well... um... no offense sire, but... I'm not sure she likes you in that way." _or at all_ he added in his head.

Suddenly Lavender stopped at the side of a lake, squinting into the thick mist. Quite a distance away a small green island was barely visible through the mist.

"Tread carefully, and follow my path precisely" she whispered, dismounting and securing the reigns round her hand, then waiting for Arthur and Merlin to do so too. "If you can't see me then stop moving."

"Wait. Do you mean to say we're going _through _the lake?We can't walk through a lake, we'll..." Arthur was cut off by Lavender's hand covering his mouth, she put a finger to her lips.

"Shh, great beasts dwell in this lake, ones that will swallow you whole before you can even blink." she whispered "You don't want to wake them do you?" she looked at both of them, then relaxed slightly "The water will barely reach half way up your calves before we get to the pathway... Oh and don't draw your sword under any circumstances."

This time, although now terrified, Merlin and Arthur followed her.

The icy water swam round their ankles, soaking the bottom of their trousers (or dress in Lavender's case). The world around them was blotted out by the mist, barely allowing them to see for two feet in front of them. The silence was deafening apart from the swish of water and the occasional chink of Arthur's armor.

After what felt like hours Merlin suddenly felt aware that Arthur was no longer in front of him and ice struck his heart, he stopped moving. He got the feeling that if he took one wrong step he'd fall into the depths of the lake, or one of the beasts that Lavender spoke of would wake up. It took him a moment to realize that his horse had carried on walking and was now out of his sight. Now was probably the time to panic. Lavender had never said what to do if they lost sight of her except to stop moving. Something about the way she had said _'stop moving' _made him worry more, like that it was a matter of life or death choice.

Something brushed past his ankles, sending shivers up his spine. Then, it became _too _quiet. Accompanied by only the sound of his breathing and thundering heart, Merlin turned his head slightly. What looked kind of like a scaly gargoyle with webbed feet and claws lept at him out of the water. Crying out, Merlin brought his arms up to cover his face. The creature landed on him, digging its sharp claws into his arms and chest. As he struggled with the creature, it dug its razor sharp teeth into him. The pain was only momentary, then he could feeling the life leaving him and his blood running cold, _'poison'_ he thought. His entire body went limp and he slumped backwards, the icy water dumbing his senses further.

Vaguely aware of more of the gargoyle like creatures surrounding him and pulling him further down into the water, clawing at his skin, Merlin found himself unable to struggle or fight back. Something green was moving towards him, but not a murky, moldy, green like the creatures, but a pure, grass green, that reminded him of someone, or something, he couldn't remember. On the verge of giving up completely Merlin suddenly felt soft lips pressed against his.

***

Arthur paced the shore line, worried for his friend. All three horses were tied to a tree not too far off. When Lavender and Arthur had reached the end of the path way and Merlin's horse had followed with no Merlin holding its reigns, Lavender had told him to wait here as she'd be faster without him then run back into the mist which seemed to stop at the shoreline. It was quite a drastic change in scenery, there was dark murky waters with thick grey mists, then green fields, tall trees and a cobbled beach. Arthur had been waiting for over an hour now, he poked the dieing fire then added a few small pieces of drift wood. He caught sight of something green approaching through the thick mist and stood back up, striding out to the shore line. It was Lavender, doing her best to drag a limp Merlin out of the water. He rushed over to help her, not caring for the icy water re-soaking his trousers after they'd only just dried.

-

Lavender wiped the blood from the wounds in Merlin's chest and arms, her mind somewhere else all together. When she was thirteen (of marrying age in her village) she'd lost a sword fight to her oldest brother and now she would have to marry whoever he chose for her. Two days after leaving her village she turned eighteen, when she returned there was no doubt that her brother would of found a 'suiter' by now.

"Lavender? ... Lavender? Are you listening?" asked Arthur, stoking the fire

"Um... no..." she said, still only half there

"Honestly! I dare say you're worse than Merlin when it comes to listening skills." he complained

"Hmm..." she said, no longer listening.

Arthur rolled his eyes and gave up. Lavender dirfted off into her own trail of thought, when suddenly her ears pricked up and she froze. She put down the cloth and layed her hand on her bow and quivver of arrows. Arthur watched her, the look of alarm on her face.

"What is it?" he asked, laying his hand on the hilt of his sword.

Lavender didn't move, she kept on listening, not making an sound. Soon he could hear voices.

"...And James said pretentious? moi?" in was a mans voice and there were about four others by the sound of the laughter that followed. "Oh..." said the man as the group of people stepped out of the trees and saw them.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 - Grindylow**

Arthur didn't know when Lavender had knocked an arrow into her bow, or when she had stood up, but he knew she found these people a threat. The three men where dressed oddly, two of them were wearing long coats and the other was wearing a light brown jacket and light blue trousers.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa... we're not armed, we're not going to hurt anyone." said the skinnier of the two men in long coats, raising his hands, as did the four others.

Lavender lowered her bow "Calm down Arthur, their telling the truth." she said,

"They could be sorcerers!" he hissed at her,

"First of all Arthur Pendragon, do not speak to me like that, I am not a fool. Secondly, you are second on the sorcerers most wanted list, you would of been killed on sight." she scolded "Everyone knows what the heir to the throne of Camelot looks like." she muttered

"Um, Hi?" said the skinny man "Did I hear right? Heir to the throne of _Camelot_? As in Prince Arthur?"

"Yes" nodded Arthur

The man looked slightly shocked for a moment then seemed to gather his bearings "Hi, I'm, um ... Sir John of Tardis, we were on our way to Camelot, actually, and got a bit lost, you wouldn't happen to on your way back there would you?"

"A proper gentleman introduces his friends." said Lavender, not answering his question

"Oh! Yes, Sir Jack and Sir Ianto, Earls of Torchwood, Lady Donna and Lady Guenevere, ."

Lavender then smiled "Lavender, of the Maythen Kindred."

"Pleasure," said Jack, kissing the back of her hand

"Stop it," whispered the Doctor sharply, Jack rolled his eyes

Arthur was just confused, he'd never heard of anywhere called Torchwood, let alone Tardis

"As an answer to your question, yes Arthur will be returning to Camelot, but he was my guard home, and this is my home so I shall not be returning with you." she said politely

"Oh thats a shame," said the Doctor "But what about him?" he asked, craning his neck to get a look at Merlin, who's eye's had just snapped open, staring blankly ahead of him.

"Here it comes..." whispered Lavender, raising her bow, aiming into the thick mist.

Merlin started to scream, face screwed up in pain.

"And..." she released the arrow, just as one of the ugly, gargoyle-like creatures burst through, heading straight for her. The slender arrow flew straight down it's throat, killing it instantly. The creature fell to the ground, acid green blood already pooling onto the stones.

"What the hell is it?" asked Arthur disgusted

"A Grindylow, ghastly creature." replied Lavender "I knew it would come back for him, they never give up a meal."

"You mean thats what attacked Merlin?" he asked, staring at the Grindylow

"Yes" she said, now sitting by merlin, applying a greenish paste to Merlin's wounds.

The group of travelers froze at the name Merlin. They all looked at the Doctor, who shook his head, telling them to ignore it.

"Do any of you know how Grindylow hunt?" she asked casually "They reside in boggy, misty places, mostly lakes like this one, wait until their pray gets lost, then they strike, latching their claws into their prey and with one bite inject a poison that renders their prey completely unable to move, yet still able to feel. Then, with the help of the rest of the shoal of Grindylow, the prey is dragged to the bottom of the lake, where they're tied to the rocks and eaten, starting with the lower torso and legs and then the arms and then chest and head. Except the entire time you're chocking to death on water and being eaten alive, the poison sustains the prey for so long that they are screaming in pain until the very moment they are entirely consumed"

"So they can feel themselves being eaten alive?" gasped Donna "Thats horrible."

"How do you know that? If it the happens at the bottom of a lake?" asked the Doctor, looking grave.

Lavender stayed silent. Ignoring his question.

***

To the Doctor's shock, Merlin was up and walking within the next hour, but he didn't say anything. Arthur was getting restless.

"Can we get moving?" he asked in annoyance

Lavender looked at him simply "I'm waiting for you to leave."

Arthur shook his head "I was instructed to escort you right up to your village gates, I shall not leave your side up until that point."

"Oh for..." Lavender gave up, "fine then, get your stuff together, you'll have to leave the horses here, The path won't take them." She was clearly annoyed, obviously Arthur was oblivious to this.

She led the group of now seven people through the thicket of trees, her feet automatically taking the route she'd trodden so many times in her life. She took them through the slightly more dangerous but more direct route. To her relief no one fell for any of the traps layed by the many creatures that lived in this forest.

Eventually they came to a high wall, made with the trunks of trees and the gaps filled in with rubble dried mud and grass, they wouldn't have spotted it had Lavender not pointed it out. three was a single wooden door, no higher then four feet tall, in the center of the wall, it was hanging wide open by only one hinge. The door and walls were old and weathered, with deep scratches cutting through them. Lavender ran her delicate fingers over scratches.

"It wasn't like this when I left..." she muttered to herself, she drew her sword and handed it to the Doctor (she'd taken it off the saddle of her horse and tied it round her hips before they'd left) "Arm yourselves" she whispered, then taking the bow off her back and knocking an arrow into it.


End file.
